By Jin Nan Goto

The Windows Disk Defragmenter is an extremely useful tool to maintain your computer’s performance.  If you have a badly Fragmented hard drive you will notice that booting Windows and loading programs are extremely slow. Taking these file fragments and combining them and cleaning up all the clutter in the hard disk can speed up load times considerably.  For computers running Windows XP and all older versions of Windows defragmenting the drive is usually the first step in speeding it up.

In Windows Vista the disk defragmenter runs automatically by default.  It only runs when the system is idle and will not effect the computers performance.  My Vista machine runs the defragmenter every Wednesday at 1am. Vista uses the Task Scheduler to schedule the weekly defragmenting and you can schedule XP to defragment automatically using XP’s task scheduler.

These steps are all available at Microsoft’s Knowledge Base Article 555098
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555098

You can open the task scheduler from the Start Menu –> Accessories –> System Tools.  Or you can access it from the Control Panel under “Scheduled Tasks”.  When you open the Task Scheduler click on “Add Scheduled Task” to open the new task wizard. When you are presented with a list of programs to run automatically, click the “Browse” button and navigate to and open the file C:/Windows/System32/defrag.exe.

Over the next few steps you will select the time and frequency of the new scheduled task.  You don’t need to run it every day but you can schedule it to run late at night every couple of weeks when you are not using the computer.  After you set the schedule be sure that you check “Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish” before you click the finish button.

In order to run the defragmenter automatically you need specify the drive that needs to be defragmented.  Simply type “C:” at the end of the Run field and click “ok”.

By Jin Nan Goto

On June 30, 2008 Microsoft ended retail sales of the venerable Windows XP.  There are still loopholes where  people are still able to get computers with XP.  Downgrades, for instance.  The question is, when you buy a new computer what Operating System should it run XP or Vista.  The truth is that they both can do many of the same things equally well and there is no pressing reason to upgrade existing machines.  Still When the time comes to buy a new computer, here are 3 reasons why Vista is a better buy.

Reason 1. Vista is more secure than XP

UAC (user account control) is a misunderstood aspect of Vista.  The user is generally the weakest link in a computers security.  UAC limits what the user can do to modify the system and will prompt them for a password if a change to the system needs to be made.  Microsoft’s competitors Apple OS X both have similar features.  Although An argument can be made that Vista’s implementation is too strict.  While The pop-ups of UAC are annoying, they protect the users from themselves and Vista is more secure because of it.

There are other smaller security features in Vista that are worth mentioning.  For users of Vista Business and Ultimate, there is bitlocker drive encryption to protect your data.  There is also better protection of memory such as ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) which randomizes the position of windows files to protect against buffer overflows.

Reason 2. Better Hardware Support

When Vista was released it was plagued by incompatibilities, both hardware and software.  For some of the incompatible software and hardware, their vendors have not yet (and likely never will) released fixes.  This is especially true for older hardware and software.  However many of the problems with incompatibility have been fixed and all recent hardware supports Vista.  Generally most hardware and software should work with Vista and will continue to support Vista in the future.  A year and a half after Vista’s release and compatibility is where it should be.  Here is a Microsoft website with compatibility information about Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/

There is an exception, if you have mission critical device or software that you know is not compatible with Vista then of course XP is the way to go.  If the VPN client that you rely on to communicate with your office does not run on Vista then you need to stay with XP

Reason 3. Vista is more convenient

I have had Vista since it was released and I have never had to run the disk defragmenter.  Vista automatically schedules the defragmenter to run every week.  That is just plain convenient  because I won’t have to deal with a sluggish computer if I forget to defrag.

Networking in Vista is also significantly improved.  It is much easier and simpler to set up tasks like printer sharing in Vista than it was in XP.

Then there is Vista’s instant search box which is built into the start menu.  Just type the first few letters of the file or program and it finds it for you.  Every time I use a computer running XP I always miss the feature a lot.

I came across this page on Microsoft’s site.  This is apparently an attempt by Microsoft to change the publics perception of Windows Vista by touting what Vista can do.  I’ll be fair and mention that they don’t claim that only Vista can accomplish these 10 things.  XP can too and here’s how.

1. Instant search

You don’t need to remember folder names to be organized anymore. Save time by instantly tracking down any document, photo, e-mail message, song, video, file, or program on your PC using Instant Search.
Just open the Start menu and begin typing in the Instant Search box—Windows Vista searches file names, application names, the full text of all files, and metadata, and then displays the results right away.

I love the Instant search in Vista.  It brings a massive boost in productivity.  You no longer need to run windows explorer to open up a file, push the windows key and type in the first few letters and its right there.  It will ever pull up and run applications.  XP user can get that search feature by downloading Google desktop.  Google Desktop will also include a web search page in the results (I mean they are Google aren’t they) but Google Desktop is not as good at running applications as Vista’s Instant Search.

2. Flip 3D

Have you lost track of what files and programs you’ve opened? Flip through all your open files and windows with a simple click of your mouse using Windows Flip 3D^A—you’re just one click away from everything you’re working on.

My opinion, Flip 3D is the most useless feature added to Vista.  Flip 3D was something that looks cool and it was probably created to impress journalist at trade shows.  But it is not something that most people use all the time.  ALT+TAB does essentially the same thing, its easier and quicker, and I still use it all the time.

3. Windows Photo Gallery

Is your collection of digital photos getting out of hand? You don’t have to search through folders to track down the ones you want. Now you can tag your photos with a date, keyword, rating, or any label you choose so you can find them quickly and easily in Windows Photo Gallery.

You can also use Photo Gallery to fix and edit photos, and then share them with family and friends through slideshows, e-mail, or prints—so everything you need for photos is in one place.

Windows Live Photo Gallery can brings all the functionality of Vista’s photo gallery to XP.  It’s arguably just as good if not better than the photo gallery that ships with Vista.  Allows you to do basic editing and even export photos to flickr.

4. Windows Movie Maker

Making a great home movie just got easier. Use Windows Movie Maker to blend videos and photos into a rich movie, complete with your own soundtrack, titles, and credits.

When your masterpiece is ready to share with family and friends, you can easily create a professional-looking DVD in Windows DVD Maker.^U

Windows Movie Maker comes bundled with Windows XP, and it is just a lousy on XP as it is on Vista.

5. Windows Media Player 11

The larger your collection of digital music grows, the harder it can be to organize and keep track of it. But now you can easily scroll, flip, browse through, and play your entire music library in Windows Media Player 11. You can even create new playlists of your favorite tracks with a single click.

You can keep your music moving with you by easily synchronizing your portable music device. Or you can share the contents of your entire library with other computers on your home network or with digital media devices such as Xbox 360.

Windows Media Player 11 is another program that ships with Vista that can also be downloaded for XP.  You can download it here.

6. Internet Explorer 7

Do you like to jump from website to website? Satisfy your appetite for multitasking without having to open several browser windows. You can open multiple webpages in one window and easily click between them with the tabbed browsing feature in Windows Internet Explorer 7—plus, you can see thumbnail images of all your open webpages at a glance with Quick Tabs.

Not only is IE 7 available for Windows XP, Microsoft practically shoves it down the users throats via Windows update.  But it is a significant security improvement over IE6.  If your running XP and don’t have IE 7 download it here.

7. Windows Media Center

Watch TV on your own schedule—not the TV networks’ schedule. If your PC has a TV tuner, you can record, watch, and pause live television on your desktop or mobile PC using Windows Media Center.^M

With multiple TV tuners, you can even record one channel while watching another. When and where you watch your shows is now up to you.

The first Media Center was bundled with Windows XP Media Center edition.  The Media Center for XP is essentially the same as the one for Vista.  Furthermore Media Center really requires extra hardware such as a TV tuner to be really useful.  That means it will never be used on a majority of Vista machines.

8. Media Center Extenders

Tired of huddling around the PC for entertainment? Connect your PC to one or more televisions in your home using a Windows Media Center^M Extender like Xbox 360, and enjoy all your digital entertainment on the big screen—from photo slideshows, home videos, and digital music to live and recorded TV shows and movies.

See #7 Above.

9. Sidebar and Widgets

No need to open a web browser to check traffic and weather, open a calculator to add up a few numbers and open an application to see your calendar. Now you can put mini-applications called gadgets right on your desktop, where you can see and use them whenever the mood strikes. Just use the Windows Sidebar pane to store and organize your favorite gadgets.

Microsoft doesn’t have a monopoly on Widgets(I mean gadgets).  Yahoo Widgets has a good variety of Widgets for Windows XP, and Google Desktop has a Vista like sidebar.

10. Parental Controls

Worried about your kids’ computer use or about what they may encounter online? Now you can give your kids a safer experience and set PC usage boundaries for them by using the centralized Parental Controls in Windows Vista. You can even restrict games and websites based on your family’s values.

Plus, you can better protect your PC and your personal information, as well as your family, with built-in security tools like Windows Defender and anti-spam and phishing filters.

Again another case where Vista ports its new features down to prior versions of Windows.  Windows Live Family Safety is a Windows Live program that brings Parental Controls to XP.  Windows defender is also available for XP

What they left out

I’m quite surprised that Microsoft showcased stuff like Movie Maker (which is a pretty crummy program, although free), but it leaves out one of the biggest improvements Vista has over XP, Improved Security.  As much as UAC (User Account Control) is reviled among Vista’s critics, UAC has made running Vista significantly safer.  Vista Business and Ultimate come with Bitlocker Drive encryption which will protect your data if your computer is lost or stolen.  Vista also allows the enabling of DEP (Data Execution Prevention) which protects against buffer overruns that could install malware on your computer (DEP is also available from XP SP2 and later).

Most users will never reinstall Windows on their computer.  The Internet is awash with programs such as registry cleanup tools and utilities that tune up the performance of the PC.  Some of them work better than others (or not at all), but all have the same goal.  To keep the PC running smoothly as long as possible.

However there are several scenarios where there are real benefits to reinstall your operating system.

1.) Your PC is experiencing major software problems and you need to go back to the factory settings to fix them.

2.) Your PC has been infected by spyware, adware, or any other form of malicious critters.

3.) Your PC is getting older and the OS isn’t running like it used to.  You can reinstall the OS to get it back to its original performance.

4.)You have just bought a new PC.  Excited; you take it out of the box, plug it in, and boot it up for the first time.

XP is several years old and out of the box its not quite ready to go out in the world.  So I’m including my tips for getting it ready.  All the software that I am recommending is free.  Although some of it may require that you have a legitimate non-pirated version of Windows.  I am making that assumption, and I assume there are workarounds for those not using legitimate copies of windows.  But I’m not covering those here.  People will also notice that I am not including an Office suite even though its an important thing to install on your system.  However because I want to recommend free stuff that I use personally (and I don’t use openoffice.org) but rather an expensive bit of software produced by the same company that makes Windows.

Installing Windows XP, Brings back memories of 2001

Important – Install all updates

After you finish your installation, this is the single most important step in making your version of windows ready to survive out in the wild.  Its pretty well known that unpatched Windows are easily infected by malware unless you run all the security updates.  The first thing you do after the installation is to run Windows update and get the most current updates.  Be prepared this will take a long time, but it is very much worth it.

If you want to speed up this step here are some links to the XPSP2 and SP3 download.  You can download them on another computer while you are installing windows and move them on to the new computer with a 1 or 2 GB usb flash drive.

XP Service Pack 2

XP Service Pack 3

Take out the trash

After the 100+ updates to get the machine current, The most annoying thing about reinstalling your OS is all the trialware, useless utilities, and desktop Icons that come pre-installed on your system.  Use The PC Decrapifier to get rid of a lot of that junk.

http://pcdecrapifier.com/

Web Surfing changed since 01

Windows XP generally comes with Internet Explorer 6, which does not have a very good security track record.  So the next step is to replace it with one that is more capable.  When installing all the updates you will be asked if you want to install the new version of Internet Explorer IE7.  Download it, it is much better.  If you didn’t get it on windows update you can get it here.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx

In addition to IE7 I recommend that you also get the latest version of Mozilla Firefox.  Firefox is very customizable and is widely supported on the net.  Its always good to have a second browser.

http://getfirefox.com

Security Software

The next thing you are going to need is anti-virus and anti-spyware software.  Microsoft’s Windows Defender is a decent anti-spyware and it integrates with Windows Security Center (which comes with SP2) very well.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx

AVG is a good free anti-virus.  There is also a commercial version and Grisoft tries really hard to get users to download the pay version, but there is a link for the free version.

http://free.avg.com/

Other stuff to download

Lastly you should get the most recent version of some of the webs most common applications.

Newest version of Windows Media Player

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.mspx

Adobe Flash Player

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

Adobe Reader

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

(Originally Posted May 9, 2008)

Nobody writes perfect software and programs are constantly being updated an patched to fix security vulnerabilities.  One of the most essential ways to harden you computer against attacks such as malware is to make sure that the software on your computer is up to date.  All modern operating systems offer mechanisms for updating themselves.  Windows uses Windows Updated to automatically search for new updates and install them.  Due to the explosion of spyware, virus, trojans, and all kinds of malicious junk it is very important to stay current with all the critical security patches.

While Windows Update does a decent job patching your operating system, windows is not the only software that needs to be patched.  While third party programs such as iTunes and Adobe reader have their own update program, Other software from Microsoft, such as Microsoft Office, can use Windows Update.  Except you have to change Windows Update to Microsoft Update.

Step by Step Installation of Microsoft Update

The first step to turning on Microsoft update is to run the windows update tool.  I did this by selecting Windows Update from the Start menu.  If it is not on your start menu you can also find it by selecting “Run” from the start menu and typing in “wupdmgr.exe”.

Once you have Windows Update open, click on the “Upgrade to Microsoft Update…” link on the right hand side of the page.

Next hit the “Start Now” button, pretty self explanatory.

In the next step, you are instructed to read the license agreement.  Once again you can just click the button and proceed.

At this point you may be prompted to install the ActiveX Control to run Microsoft Update.  Click on the yellow bar at the top of the page and select “Install ActiveX Control”.

From there the only thing left to do is to push the “Install” button to confirm the installation of Microsoft Update.

Congratulations you are done.  Also, make sure that Automatic Updates is set to on so that you get updates as they come out.